Wednesday, June 10, 2009

Tea?

I’ll admit, this one is a bit of a wild goose chase. I am searching for a tea cup passed down in the Sutherland family. At some point in time, Sutherland descendent Marjory Montag noted “I have a cup and saucer from the Ruskins [sic] home.” Montag (1908-1992) was born Marjory Aspden; her mother was Ethel Minty, whose mother was Grace Abbott, whose grandfather was Thomas Sutherland (1772-1850).

Just to be clear: I don’t desire to own the tea cup, I just hope to obtain a photo of it. Any leads would be welcome. And for those interested in what a nineteenth-century tea setting looked like, the website for the Read House and Gardens in New Castle, Delaware features photos from a recent exhibition, The Etiquette of Tea.

Update: as of June 18th, 2009, I have found contact information for Mrs. Montag's children, and hope to locate the tea cup soon.